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* Jackson is missing 4 teeth. They are nowhere to be found in his pretty little head. The bright side to this is that it won't take as much effort to make room in his tiny little mouth for his huge man-sized teeth.

* Tell Baby J that he will have to have two teeth pulled, and said teeth fall out within a week. Way to save some money, dude.

* Baby J's initial foray into the world of orthodontia is going to cost close to the annual government budget of Bermuda. I may be forced back into the workforce so my darling brown-eyed boy can have a dazzling smile and a perfectly shaped and stretched palate, not to mention the fabulous lack of an overbite. Did you catch the word "initial" at the start of that sentence? Yes, there will be more to come.

* Payne isn't missing any teeth. He is a smart kid; now we know why: his four wisdom teeth are in place, sending out waves of intelligence. He has an oral surgeon's next boat payment in his head.

* Payne really isn't missing any teeth of the baby kind either. They seem to be firmly planted into both his upper and lower jaws. He needs 11 teeth pulled by the start of school. Yes, eleven. 11. Ten, plus one more. One shy of a dozen. Looks like the oral surgeon's boat payment for August will be taken care of thanks to the Big Man's genetic trait passed on to my son.

* Payne's first go with the orthodontist will be a waiting game. If you don't have any teeth, to what do you attach the wire and brackets and other paraphernalia? We pull teeth and hope the adult teeth come in. A little easier that all that Jack has lined up for his mouth.

* Did I mention Payne has to have 11 baby teeth pulled? I wasn't sure if you picked up on that little fact. At least we have an oral surgeon in the family. Perhaps we can have them over for dinner, and he can knock them out in the backyard while Jon grills hamburgers....

A late start this morning had us heading to the pool in Aransas Pass. We got there too late for a chair, so I lounged on a bench in the semi-shade. The pool has both three water slides and two diving boards. The kids went between the two pool areas the entire time. Even my usually-afraid-of-his-shadow Baby J utilized the high dive.

So Cousin Rheagan is here, and excitement abounds, mixed with the usual, normal mundane. But how much more thrilling with a cousin in tow. Well, cousins are around a lot. But this is the exotic cousin-type: the Tennessee variety. She comes with her own sweet accent, too.

The first day of our week with Rhea was filled with riding the go-kart. All.Day.Long. I am not really sure if there is any rubber left on the tires. Despite the look of being bundled up against the cold, they were keeping all the mud and field trash off themselves.

Today involved a couple of errands, then a bike ride down to (local cousin) Jill's for an afternoon of swimming. Jackson lost a tooth while there, so queue the tooth fairy for this evening. (I can only hope it is one of the baby teeth the orthodontist wants the dentist to pull in a few weeks.) A few hours later they rode back to our house. Dinner, and now silence. That can be scary. :)

Plans for tomorrow involve packing for a weekend at the Frio, plus a trip to a different pool. One with big waterslides.

I love my house. Yes, there are things I would change about it, and plenty of changes have been made. But I love my house.

Over ten years ago, the place that we call home looked like this:

We started building on a piece of family land. One that drained well in a rainstorms and had access to a civilized water system. A little patch of land cut out of the middle of a cotton/grain field.

Ten years ago today, we moved our little family of then three in.

Changes? Plenty.

* Planted trees. Some lived and thrived, others died and were replaced.* Payne's second birthday was the first birthday celebrated in our new home, a month after we moved.* Grew a little grass around the yard.* Brought Jackson home to this house* Built a brick paver patio and sidewalk* Built a shed* Built a chicken pen for 4H* Built a pig barn* Closed in the garage/expanded boys' room and bathroom/built detached garage* Will have a new sidewalk poured this week* Added Sarge, Scout, Maddie, & Oso, plus a few cats (known around this house as coyote bait)* Lost Sarge, Georgia, & Oso, plus all the coyote bait cats.

It's been 10 years of shelter, warmth, and love.

With the gushiness said first, it is still a house built in the middle of a field. Here's what I found this afternoon:

Yes, a snake. Dead and not completely whole, but still a snake. Why no one (Farmer Boy? Baby J?) told me they ran over a snake while mowing the yard is ridiculous. I do not wear shoes outside. I could have stepped on it, or it's entrails at the very least.

Which company first, Dodge (or is it Chrysler?) or Apple. Hmmmmmm.....

Apple, you fail. Did your server facility blow up today? Or did you think no one really wanted the new 3G iPhone/ 2.0 upgrade? Where in the planning stage did someone forget to take into account that tons of geeky-types were either going to purchase new phones today and/or upgrade their early-adopter-model? And what about the non-geeky types?

Did you learn anything from last year's iPhone launch? Hmmm...that would, on the surface, appear to be a "no!" I cannot believe Apple did not have enough server capacity. Self-inflicted fail, Steve. Turn in your black turtleneck.

Chrysler/Dodge, you fail too. But I don't have time for you right now. Nothing like the Farmer Boy being without his truck for numerous days in the midst of harvest. Hmmm, wonder why Toyota (and yes, I love my gas-guzzling behemoth of a Sequoia) is kicking your backside?

When was the last time you had your hair cut/trimmed? Last Wednesday. Just a trim.

Soup

Name one thing you miss about being a child. First thought? Catching lightening bugs. We don't have them in South Texas. The deeper answer? The thought that I could do anything and everything I wanted.

Salad

Pick one: butter, margarine, olive oil. Southern girl here: butter.

Main Course

If you could learn another language, which one would you pick, and why? Spanish. Why? Again, I live in South Texas. I took French in high school. Really, when would I ever need Spanish......

Dessert

Finish this sentence: In 5 years I expect to be… schooled in the art of living with teenagers. I will have 2. Yikes!

The house is a little more quiet, the frenzy a little less chaotic. Payne is in Tennessee for the week to get his fill of cousins, grandparents, and mountains.

Jackson, full of the promise of friends over to play, has started the week by cleaning up the playroom. Quite the endeavor for the little guy who hates to be alone. I am just thrilled to know that he can complete a task, given the proper motivation.

The skies are still ripe with rain. We have gotten over three inches at our house. The yard is thankful, the unharvested grain in the field is crying uncle. Time to dry up and get the remainder out.